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Editor: John Mortimer

Thursday, 29 November 2012

“The time is
now right for us to adjust our approach to one of more aggressive, accelerated
growth in order to capitalise on the substantial opportunity ahead that will
allow us to introduce our clean technology into mainstream commercial and
passenger vehicles world-wide,” Jeremy Deering, chief executive of Torotrak plc,
told us today, after announcing the company’s latest half-year results.

This
suggests that following the departure of former chief executive, Dick Elsy,
Deering’s arrival will herald an emphatic change of direction; one that aims to steer the
business in a direction that will bring returns more quickly than before.

With a
period-end cash balance of £10.7 million, Deering said Torotrak would now “put
its hands in its pockets” to push forward more aggressively a number of its
programmes.

Torotrak has
three main product areas: infinitely variable transmissions (IVTs), MKERS or
mechanical energy recovery systems and V-Charge, an induction boost system. Together
the value of the latter two lines is roughly equivalent to that of the IVT
business, according to Deering. At the
moment IVTs are directed principally at commercial vehicles and off-highway
applications.

On the V-charge
front, Deering expects to spread the technology across four platforms, from
small cars like the Renault Clio, into sports utility vehicles (SUVs) with
1.6-litre engines, premium vehicles that might require a two-stage device, and
one other.

The aim is
to build more prototypes and develop simulation tools with the aim of spreading
wider an understanding of the performance and economy benefits. There is an aim too to break the supply route
issue: OEMs trying out the system want to know if there is a Tier 1 supplier standing
in the wings; and Tier 1 suppliers want to know if Torotrak has an OEM customer
lined up.

Sunday, 18 November 2012

JAGUARLANDROVER
(JLR) has clinched a deal with Chery Automobile to build a new vehicle
manufacturing plant near Shanghai, due to open in 2015.

Significantly,
the vehicle manufacturing facility at Changshu will be alongside a state-of-the-art
research and development facility and a new engine plant that could be modelled
on the new engine plant now in the initial stages of construction in Wolverhampton,
UK to produce the ‘Hotfire’ engine range.

Chery
Automobile is China’s sixth largest car manufacturer but the country’s largest
exporter. Last year it sold 650,000
units. Total car sales in China last year was 18.5 million.

JLR
is owned by TATA Motors which has revealed plans for a £10 billion expansion plan
over the next five years; the link with Chery is part of that expansion plan.
JLR has said that the output from the plant, which in the first phase is set to
make 130,000 units a year, will be in addition to existing output – and not a
replacement for any UK production unit. It is understood that 60 per cent of
the plant’s output will be Land-Rover-badged vehicles.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Navistar International Corporation expects
to announce this month the date of start of production (SOP) of its Big Bore
engines that have been found to be non-compliant with US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) regulations.

The
US engine builder has been forced to halt production of MaxxForce 13 and 15 diesel
engines following the EPA’s decision to oppose the company’s type of engine
emissions technology.

So,
in an embarrassing about-face, Navistar will adopt SCR technology and is
working closely with Cummins to resolve its current issues. Navistar, based in Lisle, Illinois, has
opposed SCR technology for years and is now paying the price.

Navistar
has come to a long-term supply agreement with Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana
to use its heavy-duty diesel engines and “emissions after-treatment systems” for
Big Bore engines.

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

It is curious that in the year
General Motors confirmed Luton, UK as the focus of its European Vivaro van
production, Ford elected to vacate its Swaythling, Southampton plant in favour
of centralised Transit van production in Turkey where costs are lower.

The
interesting difference is that Turkey is effectively outside the principal European trading community. However, it cannot be ignored that in June this year, the European Investment
Bank (EIB) approved a £80 million loan to help ramp up production of Transit
vans at the Ford Otosan facility at Kocaeli, Turkey.

The UK, France, Germany and Italy are the main source of funds for the EIB.

The
loan was agreed as part of a billion dollar investment plan – about £600
million – for Ford’s 395-acre site in Kocaeli. The application for the loan was
made in October 2011 to finance the modernisation of the plant ahead of new
generation Transit 6.

Sunday, 4 November 2012

Speculation amongst some observers suggests
there would be no surprise if the “sensational” engine using compacted
graphite iron (CGI) block, due to bow in the 2013/2014 time frame (see last
post), comes from Ford Motor Company; the engine lying within the company’s Ecoboost
family.

Speculation
is ignited through the announcement 29 October by global foundry Tupy SA of Joinville,
Brazil, that it has placed a contract against SinterCast for its System
3000plus process control technology to use for the production of 300,000-plus
high-quality CGI castings a year.

Industry
insiders suggest the projected annual volume of over 300,000 a year of the new
CGI blocks from Tupy SA is too high for a vee-diesel production run. This implies
either an in-line diesel or a gasoline engine.

IF
the new application is for a gasoline engine, the block could be in-line or vee
configuration. For an in-line engine, Ford is one speculated OEM customer to
take such high volumes.

But,
on the other hand, IF the new CGI block is intended for a vee gasoline engine,
then General Motors could be the customer. However, GM has no previous
experience of machining CGI on such a massive scale. And over 300,000 blocks a
year is ‘big scale’. All IFs and BUTs.

The
EcoBoost is a family of direct-injected gasoline engines developed by Ford in
association with FEV Engineering. They range from the three-cylinder I-3 of
100-123bhp, through the 1.6-litre I-4, the 2-litre I-4 and up to the 3.5-litre
V6 giving 350bhp.

The
speculation would fit in with suggestions (in the previous post) that the
cylinder block of the upcoming engine is an I4 of around 1.6 to 2-litres and not
a vee diesel engine configuration. Indeed the idea could be taken a stage
further – the engine could be an I-3 three-cylinder 1.6-litre or an I-4
four-cylinder 2.2-litre gasoline engine.

The
benefits of CGI have now become well established and well-proven through the
efforts of numerous OEMs, with Audi and Ford leading the pack in passenger
vehicle applications: lighter weight, higher strength, higher stiffness, and
improved rigidity and NVH. In theory, a CGI block can be as light as an
aluminium block and would be of great advantage in the Ford Focus or light duty
truck use in the US.

CGI
would assist with Ford’s programme of down-sizing whilst retaining improved
performance and fuel economy. For example, a 2.2-litre I4 gasoline engine with
a performance of 125bhp/litre could deliver 257bhp and 300ftlb torque. With
150bhp/litre this would give 330bhp. Eventually, around 380bhp might be
possible with 2-litres being seen as a possible company in-line capacity limit
in years to come.

In
the absence of mature information at this stage, speculation further fuels the nature
of the upcoming engine family. For example, it is known that Ford has carried
out work over the years on HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Ignition Engines) in
partnership with PSA in France on the 2.7-litre V6 engine with a CGI block.
Both companies have experience of machining CGI cylinder blocks. Could HCCI be
a step too far for Ford at this stage?

In
an HCCI engine, fuel and air are mixed and injected into the cylinder. The
piston compresses the mixture and spontaneous combustion occurs. (In HCCI, the
engine combines the fuel and air pre-mixing of a spark ignition engine with the
instantaneous combustion of a diesel engine.)

Ford
also has supported HCCI research through Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and oil giant BP. Ford executives believe an HCCI engine can give near-diesel engine fuel
efficiency but with the lower cost of the gasoline engine. However, to be
successful, the conventional gasoline cylinder block must be strengthened and
this is where a CGI block could be of advantage.

Ford
is not alone. General Motors too has tested HCCI in Aura and Vectra mid-sized
cars. But GM has not machined CGI blocks before in production-environment
volumes. It has yet to introduce its own CGI engine, though GM Europe, must
have ‘looked over the shoulder’ of VM Motori in Italy with its vee diesel. GM
has plans for a CGI V8 diesel but they are believed to be still on the back
burner.

Another
variation is GDCI or Gasoline Direct-Injection Compression Ignition where low
emissions are combined with high efficiency. In 2010, Delphi Corporation with
Hyundai America Technical Center and academics from Wisconsin University won a
US$7.48 million grant from the US Department of Energy to develop a GDCI
engine; details were presented at the 2012 SAE World Congress in Detroit.

In
GDCI, air is compressed in the cylinder before partially pre-mixed fuel is injected
into the cylinder. As air is compressed, the heat generated is sufficient to
ignite the mixture without need for a spark plug.

GDCI
differs from HCCI in that with the latter, air and fuel are mixed before
compression begins. Compression of the air/fuel mixture causes self-ignition,
rather than introducing air/fuel into the hot compressed air at or near top
dead centre, as with GDCI. GDCI would benefit also from a CGI block.

Among
those working on advanced powertrain systems in the UK is CAFDR, the Centre for
Advanced Powertrains and Fuels Research at Brunel University, Uxbridge.
Sponsoring companies include Ford Motor Company and Delphi Diesel Systems.

Global
machine tool supplier MAG IAS LLC of Erlanger, Kentucky, is probably the
pack-leader in terms of most experience of developing and supplying machining
centres for CGI, though Grob-Werke GmbH of Mindelheim, Germany cannot be
discounted through its association with Audi. This year, Grob-Werke opened a
production base in Liaoning, China – its fourth. MAG claims to have
successfully used cryogenics to machine CGI, and has supplied Ford with machine
tools for its latest V8 diesel engine lines in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Chihuahua
Engine Plant (CEP) makes engines for Ford’s F-series trucks. These vee engines
use CGI blocks from Tupy SA.

Meanwhile,
back to square one – all IFs and BUTs. But whatever, this will prove to be a “landmark”
CGI engine application – the biggest-ever single order for such a prominent and vital engine component. ∎